A blog where celebrity fact and fiction collide...Interviews with a twist... Ever wonder what it would be like to go back into the woods with Betsy Baker (Evil Dead)? Back to H wing with Val Lehman (Queen Bea) or even have a sleep over with Heather Langenkamp (Nightmare on Elm Street)? Well here is where you can experience it in all it's glory...

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

An Excellent Adventure with Diane Franklin - An interview

"Forsooth
this is tighteth," I thought as I adjusted my corset. It dug into my hips
and I hadn’t eaten all day, I was starving.

Finally the
director shouted cut and it was time for lunch, but as everyone starting
shuffling up to the catering van, I grabbed the chance and nipped to the
toilets to loosen my restrictive clothing.

As I was pulling
the laces, grunting and wiggling as much as I could to make myself more comfortable,
someone exited the stalls saying that she had experience in these matters, I
looked in the mirror and to my astonishment I saw Diane Franklin, someone who
indeed has a lot of experience with medieval costume!

Diane
Franklin, actress and sweetheart of the 80s, staring alongside John Cusak in
the 1985 comedy Better Off Dead as
Monique, also (and in my view, the best role) Princess Joanna in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Other well-known
parts include her first in the 1982 film The Last
American Virgin as Karen and the 1982 horror filmAmityville II:
The Possessiona s Patricia Montelli. Television roles
include Bay City Blues, Matlock, and Freddy's Nightmares.

Earlier
in her career Franklin appeared in TV commercials for Coca-Cola, Trident, Jell-O, and Maxwell House coffee.

In
2012 Franklin published a memoir, Diane
Franklin: The Excellent Adventures of the Last American, French Exchange Babe
of the 80s.

She
is also the mother of actress and writer, Olivia DeLaurentis.

Wow, I thought and as she
helped me get comfortable and as all respectable girls in the bathroom do, we got
chatting... I started with something easy.

You were quite
young when you started acting, how did you get into it?

“Oh, I wanted to
act ever since I was 4 years old. But I started professionally working when I
was 10 with modeling and commercials.My parents were not in the business. I
just never lost interest and they listened. ( I go into detail with this in my
book.)”

How did you get the
part of the princess? Did you have to audition with an English accent?

“I originally went
in thinking I was to audition for the Joan of Arc role. In fact, I thought they
were having me come in because they knew I did a French accent as Monique Junet
from Better Off Dead. Surprisingly, the director and writers asked me if I
could do a British dialect, so I just started talking to them using the
dialect. They were impressed, but I couldn't figure out why Joan of Arc would
talk this way?! That's when they asked me if I could see myself playing a
princess. I have to admit I was a little disappointed because I thought it was
a much smaller role. Only later did I realized Joan of Arc had no
lines, and I would get to play opposite Keanu Reeves. Yeah, I think I got
the better role;)”

Right, I’d waited
as long as I could and I just had to ask, What is it like to snog Keanu Reeves?

“Wonderful!! But I
have to say I wish we did more takes:)”

As a Brit myself, I
am very critical of Americans doing our accent, especially when they mostly
sound like Dick Van Dyke... But I have to say, yours was pretty spot on, how
did you get to grips with it?

“I first worked
with a dialect coach, then later practiced my character by improvising with the
dialect. I needed my accent to be as real as possible so that no one would
doubt I was a true Medieval babe;) In fact, all the historical character's had
to play their roles seriously, otherwise the time-travel jokes would not have
worked at all. I think everyone did a wonderful job. Especially, Napoleon and
Abe Lincoln;)”

So, what was it
like filming with Keanu and Alex? What are they like?

“Keanu and Alex had
the friendship bond of Bill and Ted. They were relaxed, having fun, very
approachable, very friendly... Kim and I had a blast site-seeing with them in
Italy, (which is where we shot the Medieval castle scenes!)”

Now, I am a huge
George Carlin fan, what was he like?

“I love George Carlin. Seriously, he was the sweetest, most polite guy
when we were shooting.”

I always find it
interesting that a comedian of his... 'style' would play a part in a PG rated
film.

“I know, hard to
believe! Very shy, well mannered. I was very fortunate to work with him”

Now it was time to
put the rumours to bed… I’d heard that there was a deleted ending? There was a
prom scene?

“Bill and Ted finally took us to the prom in San Dimas! Yes, it was
wonderful and very cool!! But alas, I think the ending was not where they
wanted the boys to end up. I think they wanted them to be back playing music,
so they could set up the next movie. I hope someday that scene will be put on
as a special feature on a re-release!”

So, it wasn’t a dream!

Why didn't you
appear in Bogus Journey?

“Well... let's just
save that information for my book. I have a whole Bill & Ted chapter with
personal photos! In the words of Princess Joanna,"it's totally
excellent!"”

Have
you heard about Bill and Ted 3?

"I
have only heard that Alex and Keanu were the ones who want to make it but no
word yet when it will start.

And
do you know if it's actually being made?

I
do hope they do it because I think it would attract a huge audience."

Now,
you are much more than Princess Joanna! You starred with another of my hearthrobs,
John Cusack in ‘Better Off Dead’, I've heard he's a bit 'off the wall', but
what was he like to act with?

"John
is wonderful, but I do not know his off the wall side. To me John is sweet, shy
and has a very dry sense of humor. I LOVED working and just being with
John."

You
also appeared in an episode of 'Freddie's Nightmares', I interviewed Heather
Largenkamp a while ago and she said Robert Englund was lovely, how was he to work
with?

"I
never got a chance to work directly with Robert, but I am good friends with Heather
even to this day! As far as working working on "Freddies Nightmares"
I loved my role as the bride and seductress in "The Bride Wore Red"
(on You Tube), but only got squirmish when my character had to play like a ten
year old girl with pig-tails. Now THAT was scary!!!"

You
also appeared in the ‘Amityville’ series of films...

"Amityville
II:The Possession was perhaps the scariest of all the Amityville films because
it was based on a true story of a boy who murders his family.

Woah...
Did you get spooked in either of these?

Although,
I did not have any super-natural experience, there was a very intense and quiet
focus on the set. I have a chapter on Amityville in my book that talks about
the incest scene. All I can say, is a lot of people have said to me they love
this film. It got re-released last fall in a Special Edition DVD package from
Scream Factory with all three Amityville films in it. There are commenties,
interviews and special features with Rutanya Alda, director Domiano Damiani,
who sadly just passed, and myself."

Now,
you went on a date with Scott Baio (in 'Charles In Charge'), but as a young
woman in the movie game, starring along side some of the greatest teen idols we
had, did you date any of them for real?

"I
never dated Scott, but he did ask me out;) As far as my love life goes, I'm
going to have to save that for the next book I write!"

Brilliant!...
And who is is the best snogger? On or off screen?

"Ooooh...that
is a tough one. I played the love interest so I got to kiss a LOT of guys. I'm
going to have to think about that one and get back to you... "

So
my dream role would be a princess in a time travelling teen comedy, in which I
snog Keanu Reeves. What is your dream role?

"Ah,
my dream role in the 80s would have been to play Costanza in the Oscar award
winning film "Amadeus"(a role I almost got, and talk more about in my
book, "Diane Franklin:The Excellent Adventures of the Last American,
French-Exchange Babe of the 80s" But today my dream role is any film my
daughter, Olivia DeLaurentis, puts me in. She is such an amazingly talented
writer, director, editor and actress. It is a gift being in her films! (YouTube
Olivia DeLaurentis)"

With my corset finally
loosened, my stomach noisily expressed my extreme hunger, I suggested that we go and
eat to which Diane agreed. It had been a long day and we deserved a good meal.
So after checking our hair and a quick lip-gloss reapplication, we left our
little meeting place and headed for the catering van, not without one important
last question though...

Ok
lastly... If you could visit any period of time, where would it be and
why?

"I would have to say "the future",
because 1. I would like to see if we have become a more unified planet. 2. Will
there be flying cars that take us to work on other planets? 3. Will people be
microchipped like dogs? and most important 4. Will there still be chocolate
cake?"

Ha... Nice retort I thought... Now to the lasagne.... and maybe a
nice slice of chocolate cake…